Decorative belt buckle

ABSTRACT

A decorative belt buckle with a front window for the viewing of a decorative fabric that may be removably held therein is of three part construction, with the first part defining horizontally extending channel with the center plate having therein the window and opposed parallel perpendicularly extending side walls with return bend securement portions, the second part being a plate having the removable fabric stretched around it and held in place by means of spikes or projections on the face of the plate, and a third part that, with the second part, is slidably inserted into the first part channel solely in the direction parallel with the first part side walls and has return bend edges for engaging the return bend sides of the first part to resiliently clamp the fabric and slide plates within the first part. The parts are preferably constructed each in one piece from a synthetic resin.

United States Patent Bishop 1 1 DECORATIVE BELT BUCKLE [76] Inventor: Virginia H. Bishop, 2864 NE. 25th Ct., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33305 22 Filed: Apr. 26, 1973 21 App]. No.: 354,548

Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Assistant Examiner-Doris L. Troutman Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Beall & Jeffery Feb. 11, 1975 [57] ABSTRACT A decorative belt buckle with a front window for the viewing of a decorative fabric that may be removably held therein is of three part construction, with the first part defining horizontally extending channel with the center plate having therein the window and opposed parallel perpendicularly extending side walls with return bend securement portions, the second part being a plate having the removable fabric stretched around it and held in place by means of spikes or projections on the face of the plate, and a third part that, with the second part, is slidably inserted into the first part channel solely in the direction parallel with the first part side walls and has return bend edges for engaging the return bend sides of the first part to resiliently clamp the fabric and slide plates within the first part. The parts are preferably constructed each in one piece from a synthetic resin.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 DECORATIVE BELT BUCKLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Decorative belt buckles are desirable and known. particularly with respect to providing a frame for a decorative fabric that may be interchanged to match the remaining apparel that is worn. French Pat. No. 965,636 to Jedovszky, of I950 is an example.

However, such prior devices exhibit considerable difficulty with respect to the change of decorative fabric and are quite expensive to manufacture in view of their complexity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art with respect to decorative belt buckles for the displaying of a decorative fabric that may be readily interchanged with other dec' orative fabrics to match the apparel of the wearer. The buckle is of a simple three part construction with the first part providing a channel like frame having a display window in the front wall and opposed side walls with return bend portions. The fabric is wrapped around the fabric retaining slide plate and held thereon by a plurality of projections or spikes around the periphery of the plate on its face, so that the whole assembly may be slid into the channel of the first member. To further assist in holding the fabric on the second part and the second part within the channel of the first member, there is provided a rear slide plate that has return bend portions engaging the first member return bend portions to provide for resilient clamping of the members together. Further, the third part has a belt engaging loop. Preferably, each of the members is constructed in one piece of a synthetic resin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more clear from the following detailed description of the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a decorative belt buckle according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the slide plate around which the fabric is wrapped; and

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the rear-most plate that clamps the assembly and provides for belt attachment.

I DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING As shown in FIG. I, a first member 1 is provided with a front wall 2 having therein an elongated rectangular opening 3 for displaying a fabric 4. having thereon any desired decoration or pattern 5. As also shown in FIG. 2, the first member 1 has opposed mirror image side walls 6 and 7 extending for the full length of the first member, and opposed mirror image return bend portions 8, 9 that extend from the rear-most edge of the side walls 6, 7, respectively, back towards the front wall 2 at an acute angle with respect to the side walls. Thus, it is seen that the first member 1 is of generally channel shape and freely open at its opposite ends 10, 11.

A first slide plate 12, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is of a shape corresponding to the front wall 2 of the first member 1, but slightly smaller in its horizontal and vertical dimensions of FIG. 3 than the corresponding dimensions of the front wall 2, by an amount approximately equal to the thickness of the fabric 4 that is wrapped around the edges of the plate 12. Any desirable fabric may be chosen and cut to a generally rectangular size substantially larger than the size of the plate 12, so that it may be wrapped around all four edges of the plate 12 as it is stretched. The fabric is retained in the stretched position by means of a plurality of spikes or projections I3 that extend from the rear face of the plate 12 rearwardly and inwardly to engage within the fabric as shown in FIG. 2. The projections 13 are preferably integrally molded with the plate 12 or struck therefrom by cutting and stamping. The projections 13 are uniformly spaced around the entire periphery of the plate 12 and may be of any pointed type construction, for example, of a V-shape or of a tree-shape.

After the fabric is secured around the plate 12, as mentioned above, the plate 14 is placed against the back face of the plate 12 and fabric 4 as shown in FIG. 2, so that the whole assembly may be slid into one of the open ends 10 or 11. Plate 14 preferably has a front wall 15 that has a horizontal dimension substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the front wall 2 of the first member 1 and a vertical dimension generally equal to the distance between the side walls 6 and 7, as shown in FIG. 2, which is slightly larger than the corresponding vertical dimension of the plate 12. Further, the plate 14 is provided with return bend side wall portions 16, 17, that will in the assembled position resiliently engage the respective return bend portions 8, 9 of the first member 1 to therewith provide a spring action biasing the plate 14 against the wrapped around portions of the fabric 4, which in turn will be biased against the plate 12, to in turn clamp the periphery of the fabric 4 against the rearward face of the front wall 2 to provide for a clamped stacked relationship with the various elements. Further, the resiliency of the return bend portions 8, 9, l6, 17 will accommodate different thicknesses of the fabric 4. The rear plate 14 or third member preferably has a plurality, for example two, of loops 18 extending rearwardly from its front wall 15 to receive therethrough a suitable belt (not shown). The loops 18 may be struck out from the front wall 15 or molded.

It is seen that with the above construction, the plates 12 and 14 after the above assembly may be removed from one of the open ends 10 and 11 for corresponding removal of the fabric 4 and the substitution of another fabric to match a different set of apparel.

The three members are preferably each constructed in one piece from a synthetic resin, but also various members may be constructed from sheet metal by cutting, stamping and bending. In any event, the return bend portions 8, 9, l6, 17 are preferably resilient spring material to perform their above-mentioned function.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been set forth in detail for purposes of illustration, further embodiments, variations and modifications are contemplated according to the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A belt buckle, comprising:

a. a frame member having a generally U-shaped cross-section with a rectangular front wall portion having four sides which define a central opening therein, two opposed side walls extending generally perpendicular to said rectangular front wall portion fabric taut across said front face of said first slide in the rearward direction, and return securement member,

portions extending inwardly from the rearwardc. a second slide member of substantially the same most edge of each of said side walls at an acute size and shape as said first slide member for sliding angle with respect to each said respective side wall, 5 between said first slide member and said return sesaid frame member defining a channel having free curement portions of said frame member so as to access from at least one end thereof in the direcfirmly hold said first slide member in place. said tion parallel to said opposed side walls, second slide member having at least one integral b. means for mounting a decorative fabric including loop for a belt.

a first slide member similar in shape to, and smaller 2. The buckle of claim I, wherein said frame memthan the outer dimensions of said rectangular front ber, said first slide plate and said second slide plate are wall portion and being adapted for slidable insereach constructed in one piece from a synthetic resin tion into said frame member channel while having material.

a decorative fabric stretched across the front face 3. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said second slide and folded around the edges thereof so as show plate has return bend side portions extending rearthrough said central opening of said frame member wardly and inwardly from its two opposed edges which rectangular front wall portion, said first slide memcorrespond to said two opposed side walls of said frame ber further having a plurality of projections extendmember so as to resiliently engage said frame member ing rearwardly around the periphery of its rear face return securement portions.

for engaging and securely holding said decorative 

1. A belt buckle, comprising: a. a frame member having a generally U-shaped cross-section with a rectangular front wall portion having four sides which define a central opening therein, two opposed side walls extending generally perpendicular to said rectangular front wall portion in the rearWard direction, and return securement portions extending inwardly from the rearward-most edge of each of said side walls at an acute angle with respect to each said respective side wall, said frame member defining a channel having free access from at least one end thereof in the direction parallel to said opposed side walls, b. means for mounting a decorative fabric including a first slide member similar in shape to, and smaller than the outer dimensions of said rectangular front wall portion and being adapted for slidable insertion into said frame member channel while having a decorative fabric stretched across the front face and folded around the edges thereof so as show through said central opening of said frame member rectangular front wall portion, said first slide member further having a plurality of projections extending rearwardly around the periphery of its rear face for engaging and securely holding said decorative fabric taut across said front face of said first slide member, c. a second slide member of substantially the same size and shape as said first slide member for sliding between said first slide member and said return securement portions of said frame member so as to firmly hold said first slide member in place, said second slide member having at least one integral loop for a belt.
 2. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said frame member, said first slide plate and said second slide plate are each constructed in one piece from a synthetic resin material.
 3. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said second slide plate has return bend side portions extending rearwardly and inwardly from its two opposed edges which correspond to said two opposed side walls of said frame member so as to resiliently engage said frame member return securement portions. 